Joseph g



(No Model.)

J. G. MOOMY.

1 STEP LADDER. No. 249,476. Patented Nov.'15,1881.

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564.20,). .VLZ I V N1 PETERS Pholo-Liihagruphcr. wnihingmn. D16.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

JOSEPH Gr. MOOMY, OF ERIE, PENNSYLVANIA, ASSIGNOR OF ONE-HALF TO 1 M. W. MEHL, OF SAME PLACE.

STEP-LADDER.

SPECIFIGATIONfor-ming part of Letters Patent No. 249,476, dated November 15, 1881. Application filed June 4, 1881. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, JOSEPH G. MOOMY, of

Erie, Erie county, Pennsylvania, have invented new and useful lmprovementsin Step-Ladders; 5 and I do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear,.and exact description thereof, reference being had to the accompanying drawings and the letters or figures of reference marked thereon.

- My invention relates to the construction of the prop-hinges of step-ladders; and it consists in providing one which will lock the prop when extended, so that it cannot be folded up without lifting the ladder.

I5 My device is shown in the accompanying drawings, as follows:

Figure 1 is a side "iew ofthe'hinge in the position it occupies when the prop is folded, and by dotted lines when the prop is extended. Fig. 2 shows the prop extended and locked.

A is the top step; B, the stile; O, the prop.

D is the hinge-iron, which attaches to the topstep and the stile. dis the hinge-pivot on pivot-slot e in the iron E. By it the prop can be locked when it is extended for use. The manner in which it accomplishes this result is fully shown in the drawings. When the prop is swinging on its pivot the pivot-pin d is at the outer end of the slot e. When the prop has reached an extended position, as shown by dotted lines in Fig. 1, by pushing on the body of the ladder the pin 61 will move to the opposite or inner end of the slot 0, and as the top of the castingE is against the flangef, it cannot turn on the pivot-pin. To fold the ladder the operator draws the body of the ladder toward him while standing infront of it. This draws the pin d to the outer end of the slot, and the prop can then turn on its pivot.

The flangefis not an essential feature, for

the top step may serve as a bearing for the prop; but this would tend to pry it up off the irons. It is therefore desirable to have the flange f as a fixed and solid bearing.

What I claim as new is' In a step-ladder-hinge, the combination of the part D, having a pin, d, and a bearingflange, f, with the part E, having a horizontal slot, e,substantially as and for the purposes mentioned.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing I have hereunto set my hand this 26th day of May, 1881.

JOS. G. MOOMY.

Witnesses JNo. K. HALLOGK, W. R. EDELEN. 

